


The Mysterious Case of the Magical Mistletoe

by simplesetgo



Category: Legend of the Seeker
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Mistletoe, Powerful Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-24
Updated: 2012-01-24
Packaged: 2017-10-30 02:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/326653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplesetgo/pseuds/simplesetgo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A present for <a href="http://frompillow.tumblr.com/">frompillow</a>, who requested Unexpected Magical Mistletoe Fic!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mysterious Case of the Magical Mistletoe

With a muttered incantation and a flourish of his wizened hands, Zedd lifted the small bough of mistletoe above his head. The branch left his palms to float gently in the air. Richard and Kahlan looked up in wonder while Cara inspected the lacing on her wrist.

The bough seemed to be waiting for something; it was flitting from side to side over Zedd. The wizard scratched his chin. “Ah, yes,” he said, lifting an index finger. “The blessing!”

Zedd was trying to do a favor for someone in the town they’d just passed. A young boy by the name of Braden, no more than sixteen summers, had approached the First Wizard with a most singular and unique problem: there was a beautiful girl, and a Winter Solstice village dance, and the boy…well, he was not the bravest soul to ever live. Richard offered to talk to her for him, but was shot down by Kahlan, who insisted that the boy had the courage in himself. Cara, for her part, had promptly sidled away to take care of Important Things elsewhere.

But at the offer of a magical (and earnestly romantic) solution from Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander himself, all other options ceased to exist in the boy’s mind. It had taken the better part of a day to gather the required ingredients, and the Seeker’s party couldn’t afford to stop in one place for much longer. So they continued on their way, with Zedd’s promise to send back a little help when the spell was done.

“Go forth,” Zedd said grandly, palms out toward the floating bough, “and find the two souls most needful of your message. Find the two who, unawares, are destined for nothing less than the most wonderful, most selfless, and eternal love. Go forth!”

With a faint tinkling sound, and a swish of its leaves, the branch zipped to sit over Cara’s head.

“Wizard,” the Mord-Sith said after a moment, “your magic is broken.”

Zedd’s bushy eyebrows knitted together. “No, I don’t think so.”

Three of them stared up at it while Cara looked at Zedd and crossed her arms. “Fix it.”

“It’s not broken,” Zedd insisted. “Sometimes…magic just has a mind of its own.”

“Your blessing was a little vague,” Richard offered. “Maybe change it, and mention their names this time?”

“Whose names?” asked Kahlan absently. She was staring fixedly at the mistletoe over Cara.

“The boy and girl back in the village,” Richard said. “The ones who this was meant for.”

“It’s done.” Zedd shrugged. “I can’t change it now.”

Cara looked up, and made a noise in her throat. Zedd casually took a small step back. “What happens now?” asked the irritated Mord-Sith.

“Well, we still don’t know who your destined lover is,” said Zedd cautiously.

As if waiting for such words, the branch of green leaves and white berries flitted over to Kahlan, taking up residence right over her brunette head.

“Oh,” said Kahlan in surprise, squinting up at it. “Oh?”

“Well,” the Wizard said, “there we are.”

Understanding dawned on Richard’s face. He looked back and forth between Kahlan and Cara expectantly.

Cara just lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, _really_.”

“This is very powerful magic,” Zedd informed them gravely. “It doesn’t make mistakes.”

“Right, so,” Cara said. “What now? How do we get rid of it? Having this thing over our heads isn’t going to help our quest.”

Kahlan blinked rapidly, as if struggling to accept exactly what was happening. “We’re…going to be lovers?” she asked in a curious voice. Curious only; not frightened, or unnerved, or even surprised—which was likely of note to those of discernment present.

“You must kiss, of course,” Zedd explained, gesturing with his hands as if moving them together by will alone. “Only then will the spell deem its work complete.”

Cara stepped forward with a gleam in her eye. The mistletoe began darting back and forth between herself and Kahlan, as if impatient. Kahlan glanced to Richard, whose expression had settled into a small, knowing smile. She looked to Cara again. “Oh,” she breathed, as if finally understanding the answer to a long-puzzled question.

With a determined look, Kahlan stepped to meet Cara. She faltered for a moment, smiling awkwardly at the Mord-Sith. For her part, Cara smoothly closed the distance, slipped a hand to cradle Kahlan’s neck, and pressed their lips together. Kahlan leaned into her, hands raising to hold Cara’s face.

It might have been the gentlest, most timid kiss Cara had endured in a long while, but she couldn’t completely hold back her small smile of contentment, looking down to hide it instead. She’d long wanted the taste of Kahlan’s mouth on her lips, and this small hint of it was…enough, somehow.

But when the two women looked up, the mistletoe still hovered expectantly above them. It dipped down, then rose back up. “Again?” asked Kahlan, realizing too late the hopefulness in her voice. Cara smirked, canting her leather-clad hips.

Zedd cleared his throat and said, “Try kissing as…lovers would.”

“Oh,” Kahlan said. Lips pursed, she looked to Richard, who rolled his eyes and turned away on his heel. Zedd did the same, coming to join his grandson in keen inspection of the forest trail.

Behind them, Kahlan whispered in Cara’s ear, “I’ve only ever kissed Richard this way.”

“I’m different from Richard,” Cara said softly, in a way that made a thrill run up Kahlan’s spine. She leaned in to kiss Kahlan, letting her become comfortable in their embrace before urging her lips apart with her own. Kahlan made a small noise, and her arm tightened around Cara’s back. Cara made sure her tongue was gentle in Kahlan’s mouth; not demanding or hungry, no matter how much her heated blood wanted those things. But Kahlan didn’t want gentle, and so Cara got a hint, then, of the passion and ardor hidden in Kahlan’s soul, shared through a deepening kiss. It birthed a want in Cara more strong than any she’d ever felt.

They pulled apart, nearly panting, Kahlan’s lips shining cherry-red and cheeks flushed dark. She gazed at Cara, and Cara held her searching blue eyes. “For once,” Kahlan murmured to her at length, setting her forehead to Cara’s, “I’m happy with what destiny has in mind for me.”

Cara saw an opportunity for another kiss, and took it. Kahlan didn’t seem to mind.

When they turned to face the men, who were talking quietly between themselves, Cara slung an arm around Kahlan’s hip, hugging her to her side while Kahlan blushed. “Alright,” Kahlan said. “You may look now.”

Richard turned, and smiled. Even Zedd cracked a grin at the sight, possessing the air of someone whose plan had been carried out to perfection. Cara scowled at them, hugging Kahlan tighter. “Finally,” Richard said. “That was killing us. The two of you were the only ones in the Midlands who hadn’t noticed.”

“Hadn’t noticed what?” said Cara.

“That you’re hopelessly in love with each other,” he said simply.

Cara felt tricked. Nobody had said anything about actual _love_. She quickly unhanded Kahlan, and crossed her arms, frowning. At a sudden thought, she looked up. At least the mistletoe was gone.

“I think it’ll find its way to Braden now,” Zedd offered.

Kahlan gently took her by the shoulders, waiting until Cara looked into her eyes. There was a sternness in Kahlan’s expression that reminded her of the time she’d been instructed not to bring hired courtesans back to camp. “It’s foolish,” Cara declared. “You and Richard…”

“How I feel about Richard doesn’t change how I feel about you,” said Kahlan. “How I’ve felt for a long time, I think.”

“Well, Mord-Sith do not talk about feelings,” Cara warned. “And we do not comfort or coddle our mates. And we have certain needs—”

Kahlan shushed her. “I know,” she said, eyes soft in a way that made Cara’s heart feel strange things. “We’ll deal with all of that later, alright? Right now I just want to…be with you.”

They struck out together, the four of them, with everything and nothing changed between them. Richard and Zedd trekked ahead while Kahlan and Cara followed. The Mord-Sith wanted far more than to "just be" with Kahlan, but for now, seeing her shy smiles in sidelong glances and hearing her voice—it was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Given how comfortable Kahlan is with showing affection to Richard in front of Cara and Zedd, it may seem strange that she was unwilling to do so with Cara here. I just felt that she would feel a strong need for privacy given the newfound intimacy of the moment!


End file.
